Why We Like The Returns At Altria Group (NYSE:MO)

Finding a business that has the potential to grow substantially is not easy, but it is possible if we look at a few key financial metrics. Ideally, a business will show two trends; firstly a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and secondly, an increasing amount of capital employed. If you see this, it typically means it's a company with a great business model and plenty of profitable reinvestment opportunities. With that in mind, the ROCE of Altria Group (NYSE:MO) looks great, so lets see what the trend can tell us.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

If you haven't worked with ROCE before, it measures the 'return' (pre-tax profit) a company generates from capital employed in its business. To calculate this metric for Altria Group, this is the formula:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) ÷ (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.43 = US$12b ÷ (US$37b - US$8.3b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2022).

Therefore, Altria Group has an ROCE of 43%. In absolute terms that's a great return and it's even better than the Tobacco industry average of 19%.

See our latest analysis for Altria Group

roce

In the above chart we have measured Altria Group's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like to see what analysts are forecasting going forward, you should check out our free report for Altria Group.

What Can We Tell From Altria Group's ROCE Trend?

Altria Group has not disappointed in regards to ROCE growth. We found that the returns on capital employed over the last five years have risen by 69%. That's not bad because this tells for every dollar invested (capital employed), the company is increasing the amount earned from that dollar. Speaking of capital employed, the company is actually utilizing 25% less than it was five years ago, which can be indicative of a business that's improving its efficiency. A business that's shrinking its asset base like this isn't usually typical of a soon to be multi-bagger company.

What We Can Learn From Altria Group's ROCE

In a nutshell, we're pleased to see that Altria Group has been able to generate higher returns from less capital. Since the total return from the stock has been almost flat over the last five years, there might be an opportunity here if the valuation looks good. With that in mind, we believe the promising trends warrant this stock for further investigation.

If you want to continue researching Altria Group, you might be interested to know about the 3 warning signs that our analysis has discovered.

High returns are a key ingredient to strong performance, so check out our free list ofstocks earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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